Castle Logan Cup (1)

After playing three rounds of Logan Cup matches, with each franchise playing 12 First Class games, the 2009/2010 season final was played over five days (30 March to 3 April 2010) between the top 2 teams on the log Mash Eagles and Mid West Rhinos.

After looking like a dull draw for the last two days, the final unexpectedly sprang to life on the final day, as Mid West Rhinos came close to pulling off what would have been an incredible victory. The miracle did not quite happen, but the day belonged to the underdogs from start to finish.

Firstly superb batting by Rikki Wessels and Graeme Cremer enabled them to declare their second innings closed, and then, due to good bowling and fielding and some very poor batting by Mash Eagles top order, they broke through and had the newly crowned champions struggling to save the match to the very end. In the end only the fighting spirit and skill of Forster Mutizwa and Mark Mbofana saw them through to safety at 67 for six wickets. The game ended in a draw and Mash Eagles were crowned the 2009/2010 Logan Cup Champions.

In the following season however, Mash Eagles and Mid West Rhinos failed to make a repeat performance in this flagship tournament.The 2010/2011 season Castle Logan Cup final held in April 2011, saw instead Mountaineers and Matabeleland Tuskers (formerly holders of third and fourth positions in the log) compete in the final.

Depleted, without five of their key players, Tuskers beat the previously undefeated Mountaineers by 18 runs, a remarkable achievement. The key factor was their swing bowler Keegan Meth, who has been steadily improving throughout the season and now seems to have instilled fear into the hearts of opposing batsmen with his deceptive swerve and accuracy. In this match he took 13 wickets at a cost of only 108 runs, besides playing a second innings of 65 runs, and if ever one man won a match for this team, this was the occasion. Matabeleland Tuskers are the new Logan Cup champions.